Former Nissen Baking Co. building is in limbo

Sunday

Sep 15, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Aaron Nicodemus

The former Nissen Baking Co. distribution center at 983 Millbury St. is not exactly buzzing with activity. The facility once distributed thousands of loaves of bread a day. At one point in its recent history, drivers toiled round the clock in three shifts.

But there has not been a loaf of bread moved from the building in more than a year. One tractor-trailer on the property — emblazoned with the word "Hostess" — sits connected to the loading dock, waiting for the load of fresh bread that never seems to come. Judging by the weeds and trash under its wheels, the trailer has not moved in some time.

But things might be happening at the facility again soon.

In July, Flowers Baking Co. of Thomasville, Ga., purchased IBC Brands in a New York state bankruptcy auction. For $355 million, Flowers received 20 Hostess bakeries that had been operated by IBC Brands, as well as 36 distribution centers. The most valuable part of the sale was likely the five bread brands that belonged to IBC Brands — namely Wonder, Merita, Home Pride, Butternut and Nature's Pride.

One of the 36 distribution centers that Flowers Baking purchased is the closed Nissen Bread distribution center on Millbury Street. This building should not to be confused with the former Nissen Bread bakery at 75 Quinsigamond Ave., which was demolished. The land is now under control of the Worcester Business Development Corp.

Flowers Baking already owns 45 bakeries around the country, including two in Lewiston, Maine, and one in Brattleboro, Vt.

Its most well-known brands are Nature's Own, Sunbeam and Tastykake. Flowers Baking Co. had sales of $3.1 billion in 2012, according to its public financial filings, and expects 2013 to be even better, forecasting a 25 percent growth to $3.8 billion in sales.

Hostess abruptly stopped producing most of its baked goods last year after filing for bankruptcy, leaving Americans wondering if they were going to go without Twinkies and other baked snacks. For a while there, it seemed like Twinkies would be as hard to find as a can of Moxie, despite their ability to stay "fresh" through anything short of the apocalypse.

But Twinkies are back. Despite being in bankruptcy, Hostess resumed cranking out its delicious ode to obesity in July.

"The Sweetest Comeback in the History of ... Ever," the new Twinkies boxes proclaimed when they started hitting shelves.

Is the former Nissen Bread Co. facility on Millbury Street poised for a similar comeback? Sadly, I can't tell you for sure.

Keith Hancock, a spokesman for Flowers Baking, confirmed the building was one of the 36 distribution centers that Flowers picked up in the Hostess bankruptcy sale.

As for its future, "It's just too early to tell," he said.

Tim McGourthy, Worcester's economic development officer, said the city has not heard from Flowers Baking, either.

In August, the building was sold by IBC Brands, the parent company of Hostess, for $953,500 to Flowers Baking Co. of Biddeford, Maine. That is the same value the city's assessors gave to the property, which has 85,378 square feet. (The Biddeford company is a subsidiary of Flowers Baking, based in Georgia.)

As part of the sale, Flowers Baking also paid off the $14,787 delinquent tax bill for fiscal year 2012 to the city, a debt that had been left behind by IBC Brands.

This is one of the commercial buildings in Worcester that saw a dramatic increase in its assessed value last year. In 2012, it was assessed at $744,600, meaning that in one year its assessed value spiked by $208,900, and its tax bill jumped by more than $3,000 a year.

But with IBC in bankruptcy, there was no one to complain.

The building sold for $555,500 in 1998. That means its value almost doubled in 15 years, despite having been closed for the past year.

One business owner whose auto shop abuts the bakery said there has not been any activity in the building for a while.

"It used to be very busy, very busy," said the owner of George's auto repair shop, who asked that his name not be used. "They ran three shifts a day, it was baking all the time. Trucks coming and going."

Mr. Hancock said the facility was a distribution center, not a bakery.

George's owner wanted to know if the Flowers Baking folks want to buy his garage, cheap.

"It's for sale," he told me, despite the lack of a For Sale sign. "You can tell them that."